observantzaniwrote:
I guess we differ in perspectives. I know more people are enjoying the comedy and more development on the romance especially since Arata and the Queen have more appearances now. Personally those things weren't the ones that hooked me to this anime. It was the rich growth of the characters. It's still there but the awkward pacing doesn't allow me to savor those moments. There are times I wish they would focus on those lingering questions instead, but then the focus would suddenly shift to another plot element.

I'm curious how many fans of S2 actually watched S1 as it was simulcast, as opposed to marathoned it after-the-fact? My guess is most S2 fans watched all of S1 in a few big chunks, and are now watching S2 unfold 20 minutes a week, so they feel it's developing slowly. As I noted before, that complaint (and others, such as there being too many characters) echo the complaints of contemporaneous reviewers of S1, if you go back and look at what people were saying then. I think S2 is developing exactly the same way as S1. Unless it flies off the rails, by the end of the season we should have more insight into the new characters, as well as the many, many, many side characters.

And if something actually develops between the main characters, it will even provide more than the first season

I am one who marathoned the first season. I started the first one originally and the idea of the card game somehow didn't appeal to me and the flashback threw me off. Then I tried it again later and I was, "wow, this is great, how come I didn't love this the first time???" I watched the entire thing and then really looked forward to the second season.

That said, I am really enjoying the second season! The first club stuff didn't take too long, we are into matches already, there is great comedy, hints of meeting people again, hints of romance, character development. I honestly don't know what more we could ask for other than for this to be an ongoing series until Chihaya really becomes the Queen, Kanade becomes a reader at the top level, all their dreams are realized. Then it can end

I marathoned as well. I was just looking for something light to watch and I ended up blowing through 24 ep in like a day and a half because it hooked me so much.

The thing is I love the attention to side characters because it shows you they are not just a stepping stool for the main characters to beat. They have their hopes, dreams, and struggles too and it's great to see that kind of humanizing of what many series would just call throw away characters. I've mentioned this before but I though the Queen would just be some evil pro for Chihaya to beat, but this anime is down to earth so despite her extremely weird personality Wakamiya is actually a friendly rival and helps Arata out at the tournament.

Arata can play in the individual tournament! uh...and then there's Shinobu wearing his clothes... Is that appropriate? I thought the Japanese were kind of prudish about that sort of thing? Please correct me if I'm wrong there. Also, it's not like Arata and Shinobu are super close friends... They seem to be just childhood acquaintances.

I was interested to see why Nishida was trolling Deskomu-kun

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

and I liked how it played out! It especially nice when Nishida ran out after the match and asked if he was going to play with them

the team is definitely stronger this year, I love how they've grown together!

To join the conversation: I also marathoned the first season... I'm pretty sure I finished it in 2 days... But that was a while ago now. I occasionally go back and watch Ep 9 "But I cannot hide" I think anyone can guess why it's my fave...

I'm curious how many fans of S2 actually watched S1 as it was simulcast, as opposed to marathoned it after-the-fact? My guess is most S2 fans watched all of S1 in a few big chunks, and are now watching S2 unfold 20 minutes a week, so they feel it's developing slowly. As I noted before, that complaint (and others, such as there being too many characters) echo the complaints of contemporaneous reviewers of S1, if you go back and look at what people were saying then. I think S2 is developing exactly the same way as S1. Unless it flies off the rails, by the end of the season we should have more insight into the new characters, as well as the many, many, many side characters.

Yep, I had marathoned the 1st season late last year as I was looking for something to watch, and I figured I'd give this a shot since I love sports animes, and love Hikaru no Go - so I figured this has to be awesome too, lol.

Having said that, I actually think things are developing quickly, at least in terms of tournament progression. Most of the matches seem to be over in less than an episode - not that that's a bad thing, since I understand there's only so much drama and so much you can drag out a match while not boring the audience. But I think Chihayafuru does an excellent job of balancing this out. Believe me, I don't really have any complaints on how long the matches are.

The thing is I love the attention to side characters because it shows you they are not just a stepping stool for the main characters to beat. They have their hopes, dreams, and struggles too and it's great to see that kind of humanizing of what many series would just call throw away characters.

Yes, yes, yes! I couldn't agree w/u more!

Now as for ep 11:

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Woohoo! I think Desk-kun should be MVP of the tournament! Could they have made it this far w/out him? Maybe, maybe not. But I still love the guy! But I will say that I was a little displeased w/the idea of trying to arrange the playing order against First Akashi Girls in such a way that there would be "throw-away" matches. Like putting your Class B players against Class A, and Vice Versa. That's one tactic I don't think I can ever support. And it disappoints me every time I see that. However, I do support the idea of always putting your best player in the center, and then your next best two on the 1st spot and the last spot, with your weaker players at the 2 & 4 spot.

Woohoo! I think Desk-kun should be MVP of the tournament! Could they have made it this far w/out him? Maybe, maybe not. But I still love the guy! But I will say that I was a little displeased w/the idea of trying to arrange the playing order against First Akashi Girls in such a way that there would be "throw-away" matches. Like putting your Class B players against Class A, and Vice Versa. That's one tactic I don't think I can ever support. And it disappoints me every time I see that. However, I do support the idea of always putting your best player in the center, and then your next best two on the 1st spot and the last spot, with your weaker players at the 2 & 4 spot.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

The Japanese tend to say '勝ちは勝ち kachi wa kachi' which means a win is a win so they don't see anything wrong with placing your players to maximize your chances of getting three wins and advancing. It isn't against the rules and while unfair if you have 3 A players and 2 B and they other team has 3 B and 2 A... that's the way the お菓子okashi crumbles...

Woohoo! I think Desk-kun should be MVP of the tournament! Could they have made it this far w/out him? Maybe, maybe not. But I still love the guy! But I will say that I was a little displeased w/the idea of trying to arrange the playing order against First Akashi Girls in such a way that there would be "throw-away" matches. Like putting your Class B players against Class A, and Vice Versa. That's one tactic I don't think I can ever support. And it disappoints me every time I see that. However, I do support the idea of always putting your best player in the center, and then your next best two on the 1st spot and the last spot, with your weaker players at the 2 & 4 spot.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

The Japanese tend to say '勝ちは勝ち kachi wa kachi' which means a win is a win so they don't see anything wrong with placing your players to maximize your chances of getting three wins and advancing.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Yeah, I don't like that kind of attitude, lol. I know if I was in a team tournament, I couldn't accept purposely throwing games/matches, but I guess that's just me, lol.

ANN says that there's only 12 episodes, unless I'm wrong. The way the story has been progressing slowly kinda tells me that they're leaving it open ended for a possible season 3.

ANN says they have "12 titles" not 12 episodes. That's because we don't know the title of episodes past the next one.

You can order all 25 episodes on amazon.co.jp which is the most important thing. When people were saying Problem Children would have more than 10 episodes I knew they were wrong as there were only 10 episodes on 5 discs solicited for purchase. If you can buy it, it exists, otherwise it does not...

ANN says that there's only 12 episodes, unless I'm wrong. The way the story has been progressing slowly kinda tells me that they're leaving it open ended for a possible season 3.

ANN says they have "12 titles" not 12 episodes. That's because we don't know the title of episodes past the next one.

You can order all 25 episodes on amazon.co.jp which is the most important thing. When people were saying Problem Children would have more than 10 episodes I knew they were wrong as there were only 10 episodes on 5 discs solicited for purchase. If you can buy it, it exists, otherwise it does not...

observantzaniwrote:
I guess we differ in perspectives. I know more people are enjoying the comedy and more development on the romance especially since Arata and the Queen have more appearances now. Personally those things weren't the ones that hooked me to this anime. It was the rich growth of the characters. It's still there but the awkward pacing doesn't allow me to savor those moments. There are times I wish they would focus on those lingering questions instead, but then the focus would suddenly shift to another plot element.

I'm curious how many fans of S2 actually watched S1 as it was simulcast, as opposed to marathoned it after-the-fact? My guess is most S2 fans watched all of S1 in a few big chunks, and are now watching S2 unfold 20 minutes a week, so they feel it's developing slowly. As I noted before, that complaint (and others, such as there being too many characters) echo the complaints of contemporaneous reviewers of S1, if you go back and look at what people were saying then. I think S2 is developing exactly the same way as S1. Unless it flies off the rails, by the end of the season we should have more insight into the new characters, as well as the many, many, many side characters.

And if something actually develops between the main characters, it will even provide more than the first season

I'm one of those who watched in simulcast. Actually, the pacing is much faster than the first. They cram more details into one episode. It doesn't have the cinematic angles like the first. Although you do make a good point. It is still developing almost the same way. But I really believe there's something missing in S2, which I really attribute to character maturity. I can't see character maturity if they're bringing too much characters to the foreground. I think I'm affected since I have grown rather fond of Taichi and his perspective on things. He was the anchor of S1 but the amount of screen time he has in S2 is acting jealous. Maybe if they fleshed that out more, I might have been more content. I still love the side characters but I just wish their stories were introduced a little better. It feels rather inorganic to the bigger picture.